Are you looking for your next great read? Why not try out the books from across the pond? Despite from what governments say, books are essential and are needed now, more than ever. So if you are need of a variety and want to read diverse stories, then I suggest you try out some British and Irish titles!
We may have left 2024 behind, but the pain and struggles of last year are still being faced, especially independent bookstores. Continue to support indie bookstores by shopping on Bookshop.org and Hive.co.uk.
Waterstones currently ships to the United States but there will be an international shipping fee. You can also try with the British bookstore, Blackwell’s, also with Wordery.com. Now on with the recommendations!
Featured Book of the Month
Mondays Are Murder by Ravena Guron
Expected Publication Date: February 13
Seventeen-year-old Kay left her sleepy hometown after the devastating death of her friend, Ivy. But when her parents go on holiday without her, Kay is forced to come back to stay with her cousin. And her return comes with a bang. Because when Kay arrives, it’s to find an anonymous letter on her bed.
The letter tells her that there will be a thrill on Tuesday, a wreckage on Wednesday, treachery on Thursday, a fire on Friday, sabotage on Saturday, a stabbing on Sunday – and her murder on Monday.
And if Kay can’t figure out who is behind the threats, the worst day of the week is about to get deadly. (Credit: Usbourne Publishing)
The Glass House by Rachel Donohue
THE WINDOW TO THE PAST CAN NEVER BE CLOSED…
1963: At the stark and isolated modernist mansion of controversial political philosopher Richard Acklehurst, the glittering annual New Year’s Eve party has not gone quite as planned. Considered a genius by some, and something far darker by others, by the end of the evening Acklehurst will be dead in mysterious circumstances, casting a long shadow over the lives of his teenage daughters, Aisling and Stella.
1999: Richard Acklehurst’s remains are defiled in the country graveyard where they have lain undisturbed for over thirty years, forcing his daughters to return to their childhood home where they must finally confront the complex and dark dynamic at the heart of their family.
Moving from the West of Ireland to Dublin, London, Florence and back, The Glass House is a captivating and compelling tale of two sisters and their secrets, of love, regret and vengeance. (Credit: Atlantic Books)
The Morrigan by Kim Curran
RULER. MOTHER. GODDESS. WARRIOR.
They called me The Morrigan. I was magnificent. I was multitudes.
They twisted my story, stripped me away. But I will tell it now in my own voice.
It begins, as all the best stories do, in darkness.
From an ancient, storm-tossed sea, a tribe of gods reach the rocky shores of Ireland.
Among them, a strange, hungry, red-haired girl. A girl who can change shape, from bird to beast to goddess. A girl who dreams of battle, of blood, of death and power.
She does not know yet that a woman who seeks to rule will always be in danger – or that there are far more treacherous figures in this land than the gods who raised her.
She does not know that one day love will burn so deep in her heart that its scars will never heal. That she will know pain so raw and pure it will almost tear her apart.
She does not know that her journey will take a thousand years. That her name will be remembered for a thousand more.
She is The Morrigan, and she is waiting: a girl with rage coiled in her chest. Beautiful, powerful, ravenous rage. A rage that will live forever. (Credit: Penguin Books)
The Boy I Love by William Hussey
At just nineteen, Stephen has already survived a year at the front. Now he is returning to the trenches to lead a platoon, despite his wounds. Broken-hearted from the loss of his first love, Stephen wonders what he’s fighting for. Then he meets Private Danny McCormick, a smart, talented young recruit. From their first meeting, there’s something undeniable between them – something forbidden by both society and the army. Determined to protect Danny, Stephen must face down the prejudices and ignorance of his superiors as well as the onslaught of German shells and sniper fire.
As the summer of 1916 ticks down to one big push on the Somme, can Stephen and Danny stay together – and will their love save them – or condemn them? (Credit: Andersen Press)
A Game of Scandal by Laura Wood
Expected Publication Date: February 13
Felicity Vane may be a mathematical genius, but getting her family to understand her academic ambition is proving difficult. As her first social season is fast approaching, it might be time to take matters into her own hands. Infiltrating the glamorous world of The Lucky Penny and winning her university fees over a game of cards could be the perfect plan.
If only it weren’t for the interference of Ash, the piratical and frustratingly handsome owner who accuses her of cheating. Now, Felicity finds herself thrown into the latest investigation of the Aviary – a fearless, covert group of female investigators- and caught up in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the worst villain they have faced yet. When the stakes are this high Felicity can’t afford to lose, but as she and Ash get drawn deeper into a world of criminal conspiracies
Is she also gambling with her heart? (Credit: Scholastic UK)
The City Changes Its Face by Eimear McBride
Expected Publication Date: February 13
A rainy Camden night, December 1996. 20-year-old Eily and 40-year-old Stephen retrace the course of their two-year love affair in search of what’s gone wrong. Is it Stephen’s reconnection with his long-lost teenage daughter, Grace? Or that he’s a well-known actor while Eily’s still at drama school? Maybe the autobiographical film he’s just made has brought his old demons back to the surface? Or perhaps Eily’s youth has led her into a mistake she doesn’t know how to fix?
Intimate, experiential, and immersive, this is the story of what happens when it’s love beyond question, but trouble comes along anyway. (Credit: Faber & Faber)
Dirty Money by Charlotte Philby
Expected Publication Date: February 13
Ramona Chang
An investigative journalist turned private detective, Ramona’s final scoop left her with a target on her back. Now in hiding, she is living in a run-down flat in east London. But when her latest case looking into an upmarket escort agency takes a dark turn, she needs information only accessible to those in power.
Detective Sergeant Madeleine Farrow
A high-flying operative at a government agency, it’s the day of her fiftieth birthday when Madeleine finds out that she has been given the lead on an investigation into corruption on a global scale. But when she finds her case mysteriously blocked from the inside, she needs someone on the outside, capable of moving undetected.
As Ramona and Madeleine’s cases collide, can the unlikely allies find justice for multiple victims within the capital’s hotbed of lies and deception?
A gripping thrill-ride set against the gloss and grit of contemporary London, Dirty Money introduces an unforgettable new detective duo created by critically acclaimed writer Charlotte Philby. (Credit: John Murray Press)
Little Red Death by A.K. Benedict
Expected Publication Date: February 13
DI Lyla Rondell is on the case of a lifetime. Tasked with investigating a series of perplexing deaths, the only lead she has is that each appears to be based on a different classic fairy tale. Far from the stuff of bedtime stories, the press is having a field day with what they have named the Grimm Ripper Murders.
But as the bodies stack up, Lyla’s whole world is about to flip on its head. Because the killer’s bloody trail stretches deep into her own origin story, and when she discovers the truth, nothing will ever be the same again.
Faced with the fact that everything she knows is fiction, Lyla will have to take a little creative license of her own if she’s going to turn the final page on the killings . . . (Credit: Simon & Schuster UK)
Give Him To Me by Dorothy Koomson
Expected Publication Date: February 13
Profiler and therapist Kez Layon is slowly getting used to her new job working in a behavioural sciences unit with some of the worst people she has ever met. She regularly plots an escape but knows she is there for the foreseeable.
Then she is called in to work on the case of April Manga. Twenty-five-year-old April was twelve when she witnessed her controlling and abusive father brutally murder her mother.
Rather than go to prison, her well-connected father was given the chance of life in witness protection with a new name and erased background. April was put into care.
After struggling all her life to make sense of what she saw, she’s decided it’s time for a family reunion – so she’s killing everyone who had anything to do with her father’s case until they turn him over to her.
Can Kez get into April’s mind quickly enough to find her before she kills again, or will they have to do as the notes April leaves on her victims say . . . and give him to her? (Credit: Headline Publishing Group)
Resistance by Steve McQueen
Expected Publication Date: February 13
A landmark work charting how acts of resistance have shaped Britain and the powerful role of photography as a catalyst for change, across the twentieth century, curated by acclaimed artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen.
Resistance presents a century of activism, from the radical suffrage movement in 1903 through key moments including the Battle of Cable Street, the Black People’s Day of Action, Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp and the Miners’ Strike; onto protests against environmental destruction, struggles for LGBTQ+ and disability rights; culminating with the largest protest in Britain’s history: the march against the War in Iraq in 2003.
A wealth of photographs – from covert surveillance images to era-defining press reportage – are interwoven with firsthand accounts from those who witnessed these major historical moments and expert analysis of where these stories lead us today. Featuring contributions from groundbreaking voices such as Gary Younge, Paul Gilroy and Baroness Chakrabarti, alongside powerful images from renowned photographers including Vanley Burke, Edith Tudor-Hart, Tish Murtha and Paul Trevor.
Resistance uncovers the often-overlooked stories of individuals who have been instrumental in forming modern Britain and is a testament to the empowering impact of collective action today. (Credit: HarperCollins)
May You Have Delicious Meals by Junko Takase
Expected Publication Date: February 20
The power dynamics of the office are never more obvious than when it comes to food: mandatory lunches with the boss, the colleague who tries to curry favour with home-baked goods, discovering the discarded remnants of someone else’s late-night binge . . .
In their Saitama office, Ashikawa is the kind of woman Nitani knows he will likely marry: sweet, obliging, and determined to wean him off his addiction to instant noodles. But he finds himself increasingly unable to respect her – or the sugary treats she shares around the workplace, winning their colleagues’ affection with baking rather than hard work.
Oshio is bolder and uninhibited – she is Nitani’s drinking buddy. In the oppressive office atmosphere, the pair grows closer, both outsiders struggling with the rigid status quo.
Driven to behave in increasingly absurd ways by the workplace rules that govern their lives, they must navigate the tensions of modern life: between leisure and hard work; indulgence and restraint; the promise of delicious food, and the reality of a lonely pot noodle.(Credit: Cornerstone)
Pagans by James Alistair Henry
Expected Publication Date: February 27
Two cops. One killer. Hundreds of gods.
21st Century London. The Norman conquest never happened. The ancient tribes of Britain remain undefeated. But murders still have to be solved.
The small, mostly unimportant, island of Britain is inhabited by an uneasy alliance of tribes – the dominant Saxon East, the beleaguered Celtic West, and an independent Nordic Scotland – and tensions are increasing by the second. Supermarket warpaint sales are at an all-time high, mead abuse shortens the lives of thousands, and social media is abuzz with conspiracy theories suggesting the High Table’s putting GPS trackers in the honeycakes.
Amid this febrile atmosphere, the capital is set to play host to the Unification Summit, which aims to join together the various tribes into one ‘united kingdom’. But when a Celtic diplomat is found brutally murdered, his body nailed to an ancient oak, the fragile peace is threatened. Captain Aedith Mercia, daughter of a powerful Saxon leader, must join forces with Celtic Tribal Detective Inspector Drustan to solve the murder – and stop political unrest spilling onto the streets.
But is this an isolated incident? Or are Aedith and Drustan facing a serial killer with a decades-old grudge? To find out, they must delve into their own murky pasts and tackle forces that go deeper than they ever could have imagined.
Set in a world that’s far from our own and yet captivatingly familiar, Pagans explores contemporary themes of religious conflict, nationalism, prejudice… and the delicate internal politics of the office coffee round. Gripping and darkly funny, Pagans keeps you guessing until the very end. (Credit: Moonflower Publishing)
Other People’s Houses by Clare Mackintosh
Expected Publication Date: February 27
The stunning new thriller from the author who brought you the jaw-dropping twist of I Let You Go, the gasp-out-loud ending of Let Me Lie, and the loveable, unpredictable Ffion Morgan in The Last Party and A Game of Lies.
‘Even on the most desirable street, there’s a dark side.’
The Hill is the kind of place everyone wants to live: luxurious, exclusive and safe. But now someone is breaking and entering these Cheshire homes one by one, and DS Leo Brady suspects the burglar is looking for something, or someone, in particular.
Over the border in Wales, DC Ffion Morgan recovers the body of an estate agent from the lake. There’s no love lost between Ffion and estate agents, but who hated this one enough to want her dead – and why?
As their cases collide, Ffion and Leo discover people will pay a high price to keep their secrets behind closed doors . . . (Credit: Little, Brown Book Group)
Other People’s Houses will come out in the US in September. You can preorder the US copy here.
The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer
Expected Publication Date: February 27
t all begins with an egg . . .
With a hungry child who risks her life for an omelette for tea – and finds a miracle.
With thieves committing crimes against nature on the wild cliffs of Yorkshire.
With a marvel that becomes a mystery . . .
and then a myth.
And 100 years later it begins again. . .
With a strange robbery at a remote Welsh cottage.
With two friends thrust from their gaming chairs into a real-life quest.
And with dangerous men who will stop at nothing to get what they want.
It all begins with an egg.
But where will it end? (Credit: Transworld Publishers)
The Impossible Thing will come out in the US in April. You can preorder the US copy here.
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